Posted tagged ‘football’

Actually, given film director Peter Jackson has made one rather meagre Tolkein volume divide into two and now three blockbusting lengthy productions, this should really be my trilogy ending contribution as at the end of 2010 and 2011 I took to my blogosphere (is that what it is called?) to pontificate, ruminate and piffilate (one word is definitely made up) to review those years in reputation highs and lows. I have to say writing a blog is not a discipline I am great at on any regular of consistent basis; but I do write a lot mainly for my own consumption and once a year unleash my scribbles upon an unsuspecting public, or rather the one or two of you who read this. Think of my blog as rather like a Sunday Post Oor Wullie or Broons annual although they tend to be published bi-annually.

By now, if you are not a Hobbit fan or from across the border then you are probably getting somewhat lost in my train of thought. But let us expand on such folklore and start in Scotland were we shall ‘steal’ an extract to get us underway from the well known 1549 work known as ‘The complaynt of Scotland’…”I labour night and day with my hands to feed lazy and useless men (politicians) and they repay me with hunger and the sword…they persecute my body with hardship…they live through me and I die through them. (The politicians’) two brothers, nobles and clergy…are most cruel to me than my old enemies the English”.

Of course, the meddling of English politicians in Scottish affairs is hardly new but this anonymous work has at its heart three enemies: politics, nobles and the clergy. And, in 2012 in terms of how to get it wrong in reputation, one could hardly choose three more apposite sectors.

Reading my previous 2011 reputation review: https://bodyprojectliverpool.wordpress.com/2011/12/30/reputation2011/, I gave a hammering to the coalition describing it as an unmitigated disaster a composite marriage of inconvenience brought together on one premise and that was to gain power. The problem with the coalition is less that austerity is patently not working that everything from the economy to education to health to energy futures to the benefits system seem to be in such a complete mess; but that this was never a Government with a mandate; rather the one it has fashioned for itself is all about “we inherited the worst situation since the Romans invaded” and “we are clearing up the mess left to us blah blah blah.” This Government as a victim has long tried my patience – has anyone posed the question what were you lot doing in opposition if things were so bad in the past – why were you not banging the drum for change then? Okay, I concede that both the individual component parties had strong manifestos but the betrayal of that content and individual party policies to reach an uneasy compromise has left us devoid of leadership and lacking direction.

Coalition patently doesn’t work and is a reputation disaster but what has really been the 2012 disaster has been Government by public opinion or rather Daily Mail opinion. Never has there been so many inquiries, select committees, reviews etc. Politics has now become a new form of “Salem witch trial’ and it seems to be that basic rights such as ‘innocent until proven guilty’ has all but gone. It is often trial by Twitter as Lord McAlpine found or that ‘grandstanding’ politicians like Keith Vaz will make some Shakespearian performance – his recent visit to the grieving family of the nurse who had tragically taken her own life, accompanied by TV crews was shocking. We do seem to have returned to a ‘Robin Hood’ society where the ‘Haves’ get more and the ‘Have nots’ get less. This plays so much into the prejudicial and discriminatory views in Daily Mail land and is shallow and damaging. And what alternative, well very little really. UKIP is just a ’cause celbre’ and Labour is weak and although giving us a ‘one nation’ vision which is extremely compelling, has no real backbone or credible leadership to deliver on such promises. Politics is in reputation meltdown and the only way the Tories, supported by a so called social democratic party, can survive is to perpetuate this worse situation ever scenario; that is to scare people!

The media remains wedded to this intracable cause and is equally in chaos. The BBC is somewhat the reputation disaster of the year but is actually also in someway an innocent bystander who has got its coat trapped in an out of control car door and is being dragged along battered and bruised. The BBC is not responsible for the abuse of children, neither is it responsible for some idiot lying to a news programme, or torrential rain and a tedious parade of boats on the Thames or even for any other woes of this country. But for politicians and the ruling classes (yes there are such people), the BBC is something to beat up on. It does stand accused of being a complete nightmare of an organisation. How can anyone person be called editor in chief and responsible and accountable for a 24/7 second by second global news organisation. What a mess and heh guess what, I predict 2013 will see BBC hitting Titanic icebergs again and again – in the present societal set up the BBC is there to be bullied by politics, nobles and the clergy.

There is only one other organisation or rather whole sector that is a bigger unmitigated disaster and that is professional football. I can’t even begin to start to write down what a complete reputation nightmare football is or anything that surrounds it – but sometimes good things come to those that wait. This year , at last, justice started to be found for 96 innocent victims of one of our country’s most shameful cover-ups. For me, the picture of two young children – one female, one male, one tall, one small, one in blue, one in red but standing together hand-in-hand is an abiding image for good and positive change. So instead of listing football’s long list of reputation woes I give you a positive called justice.

Back to that Scottish work and the three enemies. The clergy have been one of the reputation disasters I didn’t predict. In fact, how they managed to achieve this is a divine mystery; or rather it isn’t, it is wholly because they are, like most religions, man-made. The general synod makes me laugh. The fact these so called Christians dare to establish such a pompous and completely farcical set up in the name of their maker is utterly ridiculous. One could imagine a second coming and what God’s only son would make of such a construct. It would be turning tables over at the temple all over again. Their self-destruct instinct might save him the bother or maybe he is already moving in mysterious ways. Mind you, the Roman Catholic church has just done its best to spread good will to all men except if said men want to marry each other. Religion is losing it although faith remains strong and long may it be. Those people of faith follow the ultimate rule of reputation – actions speak louder than words – and they don’t need to genuflect, bow or wear silly robes and hats to do it.

Last year, I concluded that business had been in quite a good reputation position but as the recession has bitten; the dust has beckoned the likes of Comet and I have no doubt others will sadly follow in the New Year. But for me what is becoming clear as the cash-flow tightens is just how little some business values its wider social and environmental governance responsibilities. Resorting to type has been prevalent and that means reputation is at high risk more than it was a year ago. The behaviour of the global super brands such as Google, Amazon and Starbucks is nothing less than a disgrace. Amazon is open that it doesn’t do CSR. Starbucks views taxation like a charitable donation and Google well they are inhabiting another geeky universe where only the battle of tablets and smartphones and a huge Apple dominate their thoughts.

In terms of the nobles then it hasn’t been all bad news. Apart from too much information about morning sickness and bladder infections, royalty has been on a role with HRHs East of London Skyfall parachuting us all to a new level of respect for the monarchy. Jubilee hula hooping was always going to be far more acceptable to our Union Flag (by far the reputation logo winner of the year except outside Belfast City Hall) waving nation than a 1970s Sex Pistols jubilee rendition of God Save the Queen. The Royals did well in a year where they seemed to be all over everything.

Oh and of course the super humans or shall we call them the games makers. Volunteers and the voluntary sector generally reached new levels and in terms of UK PLC reputation what they did alongside our fantastic Olympians and Paralympians will never be forgotten. The opening ceremony of the olympic games through to the closing ceremony of the paralympics was a triumph that will stay in many of our collective memories and credit where it is due to the thousands of people and hundreds of organisations that made it happen. Of course politics and the media tried their best to dent it whipping G4S in their pre-games indignation and fury (even though it was meddling politicians and their Civil Servants that created the G4S situation – yes you got away with that one but some of us spotted your procurement meddling that was the real culprit) but they were deluged out of the way by the great UK volunteers and athletes.

So in terms of reputation when the people take control it seems to go right. It is in our leadership that we have problems, our role models are not living up to expectations and if a positive reputation is to be achieved in 2013 then it is that which needs to be challenged and changed. We need a new Government but that is a mid term away. We need faith leaders to get their act together. We need a more equal society that values that very thing – ‘society’ – over individualism, that puts the environment and a real social purpose before profit. We need to understand that what we say and what we do are both important. Foot in mouth twittering (tweeting for those in the know) is crass stupidity. But more than this, we need to think: reputation, reputation, reputation.

For me, I have had to take a decision in 2012, as after six years of trading I have put my reputation advisory business on ‘ice.’ Sometimes, I appear to be a lone voice. Of course recessionary thinking breeds recessionary behaviour but it still holds that 70-80% of value comes not from your book value but from your intellectual capital value and uppermost in that is creating and maintaining a positive reputation.

2013, is set to be an exciting year for me as I have taken up a social purpose close to my heart and I intend to drive the cause I now lead with absolute passion and purpose and make a real difference. And yet, I will do that using all the techniques and beliefs I have in environmental, social and corporate governance using my reputation values and models. So whether you be nobles, clergy, politicians or just a normal human being, why don’t you join me in doing the same in 2013 – Happy New Year.

Reputation – that old ‘roasted’ chestnut. Well, you can’t fail to notice that it is my pet subject and it is also the discipline that I make a living from. In some ways you’d think from all of the examples and real life experiences that anyone running an organisation or promoting their own profile would have got it right by now but looking back, as I do every year, the reputation low lights are still as prevalent as ever. When will we ever learn? Well, maybe that is a question for 2012 and one that I am always willing to debate and discuss.

So, before reading on, just remember reputation is THE factor in determining intellectual capital and that it makes up a whopping 70 to 80% of overall value. Whether we are talking about personal or organisational reputation then that is an overwhelming figure that means you ought to be taking these examples highlighted here very seriously.

Of course it is difficult to comment on 2011 without regard to the reputation trinity of politics, press and the police. Politicians have come and gone and none of that is different to any year. Across the world, political leadership has been awful. The state of western economies, particularly in the Eurozone is of great concern and is now hurting us all. In the UK this is the worse time I can remember since the height of Thatcherism in the eighties. Walking around my home city of Liverpool is a real eye-opener. Or at least it should be because you have to look closely.

Compare the situation to just three or four years ago and instead of fully occupied offices and retail units you now see numerous for sale and to let signs. Perhaps more worrying are the number of people sat with pints in pubs at breakfast time. The betting shops are doing a great trade as is the National Lottery and its new spin off the Health Lottery which managed to launch and establish a positive reputation against a flurry of criticism for only donating 20% to its good cause whilst pocketing 80%.

But they are not alone in terms of some thriving business developments, the Health Lottery is based around the concept of social enterprise and a company structure that is coming in to its own called the Company Interest Company or CiC. It is my belief that CiCs are the new business model to watch and that whilst charity is not dead (in 2011 charities still continue to hold their reputations and fund raising despite the recession) the lighter regulated and more commercially savvy CiC is the future. The beauty of a CiC is it allows social need to be met whilst accepting that making money is not necessarily a bad thing – my words. Of course CiCs can tread a line. The Salvation Army took a big reputation hit this year turning over £18m through textile trading with a very dubious relationship with a company called Kettering Textiles (check the name of the director who happens to span both organisations and check out K Textiles little earner – £10m – and how little they pay for the textiles per tonne). Even so, the Sally Army has managed to steer itself through such reputation storms also picking up the BBC Children in Need contract whilst at the same time knocking other charities like the North West Air Ambulance off big supermarket car parks by its commercial approach. Overall, my prediction is CiCs will be the big story of 2012 as will any aspect of business to do with lifestyle, health and sustainability.

So back to politics. What a mess. The coalition has been an unmitigated reputation disaster. Manifestos are in the bin and Conservatism is in full flow upsetting everyone from students to the rest of Europe. The economic strategy is off the rails, we have riots on the streets, mass industrial action and the Liberal Democrats imploding. And yet, David Cameron seems to come out of these disasters stronger and stronger. It is an incredible result and the opposition seems to get weaker with a leader in Ed Milliband who is being trounced at every point. Of course, there is a reputation loser and that is Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats. How on earth did a centre left social democratic party think it could work with right wing conservatism – it is beyond me but I am bemused at how well it is playing for the Conservatives and David Cameron. I still can’t believe the whole plot will not disintegrate and 2012 will be an interesting year.

Meanwhile, as I write this sat on a freezing cold Northern Rail diesel multiple unit that was probably built in 1940 and is clattering up a branch line late I am told that my ticket in 2012 will cost 5% more. There are a number of businesses that just don’t get it. The David Lloyd Centres have also announced that due to greater costs they are passing on the costs in higher prices. Fine, but what all these brands forget – there is a recession and my income and others is not increasing. Also, their services are not improving. It is a fine line in balancing the marketing 4Ps and they need to be careful. Northern Rail are generally awful – I take N Rail trains three times a week and the most interesting view of them is working out will I be on a bad train, a very bad train or a very very bad train. The anticipation at the station platform is great fun!

So who are the big losers this year. Well let’s skip passed the Police (well if they don’t coral you in), particularly the Met who from kettling to standing back and watching are just an unmitigated disaster. Their new guy, Bernard Hogan Howe, cut his ‘chief’ teeth in Liverpool and I once sat with him at an Everton match. Nobody told me who this military type with polished shoes, pressed trousers and impeccably groomed hair was and I decided to sound off about the Police – whoops. Mind you he took it all well and he is a real PR and digital performer. There will be few PR or reputation gaffes on his watch or if there are expect them to be dealt with – also expect him to blog and podcast etc. I’ve had the displeasure of dealing with some bobbies recently for a client. What a complete bunch of stereotypes they are. What can I say, they certainly play their parts and they need to get their act together as unfortunately the other two of the trinity, politics and press, will continue to make their lives difficult.

There is little I can add in 2011 about the press reputation except rock bottom and enough said. The only issue it leaves me with is just how many enquiries, inquiries, inquisitions, reviews do we need. Every time something goes awry we hold post mortems to the Nth degree. How about this novel suggestion, why don’t we plan and manage and direct reputation – here comes a plug for my work – well no not really, but the complete lack of investment does worry me and yes I have a ‘for hire’ sign permanently outside my office. One of the most interesting press reputation issues will be the interaction with the audience. This week the Lancashire Evening Post announced its intention to suspend comment facilities on its web page and that it is to prosecute a contributor. The old letters to the editor pages have come a long way and the BBC in particular since moving to Salford, is keen to get down with the people taking everything from Radio 5,s Fighting Talk to BBC One Football Focus into live settings. It will all end in tears. Quite honestly, whilst I can stomach a bit of audience participation, the onerous meanderings of chat show phone in groupies is not my choice of viewing and listening. However, participation is an area of major growth, probably spurred by the Internet accessibility spilling over to other media. Witness the rise of internet forums, instant messaging (although Blackberry had its service come under reputation flack this summer), phone ins and digital petitions.

Overall business seems to have chartered a fairly calm passage through the sea of reputation although we have lost quite a few brands as the tough climate claims its casualties (Blacks and La Senza being just the latest to cling on). Interestingly, some businesses actually achieved a unique position of people feeling sorry for them. Those hard hit by the riots gained incredible support. Brands like Tesco and Starbucks continue to really aim for world or at least high street vs. out of town/retail park domination. This remains uncomfortable for me as the high street is under threat. Conversely this has led other traders to fill the gap. 99p Stores is growing fast as a brand as is Home Bargains. For me, the retail brand of the year is Aldi, closely followed by Lidl. Aldi offers a great experience and their prices are exceptional. A brand to watch in 2012. One of the store assistants in Aldi told me recently they had 50% more people visiting them this year than last. Of corse four pints of milk in my l;coal Tesco £1.80 and in Aldi £1 – I know who I want to have the 80p difference – me!

So what about organisations that have really made a reputation mess. Well, St Paul’s Cathedral lost the plot when the Occupy camp arrived. A perfect example of an organisation that just did not plan or manage its reputation. I passed by the camp last week and was mildly amused to see that the camp is now sited next to a Blacks Outdoor Store – good planning except that brand is struggling towards a pre-pack and rescue. Travellers and camps took a reputation bashing generally with the disaster at Dale Farm.

But for me, the reputation disaster has to be in the sports sector and in particular football. At the time of writing two high profile international players are embroiled in serious allegations relating to racism, there isn’t a day goes by that doesn’t present another character to the pantomime, whether that be an imature player letting off fireworks or a tempremental prima donna refusing to play and fulfill his contract. The real reputation disaster starts at the top – rules, officials, governance is devoid of any sense of control or balance. So this year I nominate FIFA as the entity with the worse reputation.

Pause for a moment – its not just football. The Rugby Football Union collapsed at the seams as its huge bureaucratic, and if I may observe rather pompous, establishment failed to grasp that professional players had to be just that – professional. London showed how fragile it may prove next year failing to anticipate a late finish at the world ATP tennis finals, the showcase world tennis event already under threat from our archaic tax laws, stranding thousands at a closed tube station. Even Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, got in on the act by holding up play by arriving late to his seat – mind you that was very funny to see the camera on Boris and his bag of popcorn whilst Roger Federer glared at him. And the BBC showcase Sports Personality of the Year unfortunately managed to conjure up a 100% female free event.

So sport is the reputation loser in 2011 – a complete mess of egos, inadequate ownership, overpaid and out of touch practitioners and a gullible following from punters to pundits. FIFA are not the exception, but one wonders who on earth carries out their PR and stakeholder management.

So looking forward, one can only wonder what we will face in 2012. The Olympics is the obvious ‘trip wire,’ sport can be relied on to keep the poor reputation flag flying although I hope it is the opposite and that next year I will be upholding it as THE reputation winner. The tenuous coalition will no doubt give us a lot to ponder.

From my perspective, convincing organisations and people to plan and manage reputation remains my priority. It’s a mantra worth chanting.

Robert Green’s error will no doubt become the domain of advertisers as the inevitable ‘Danny Bakers 101 goal keeping bloopers’ and numerous other World Cup tosh makes its way onto DVDs and books destined for every boy’s Christmas stocking. But the biggest advertising blooper ‘ever’ was committed by ITV who managed to switch in an advert for Hyundai cars at the very moment England scored their goal.

ITV have apologised blaming a transmission error. What on earth does that mean? Of course there was a transmission error as watching choreographed Hyundai cars pretending to play football with a giant ball, at the very moment Steve G scored, was not what the nation had switched to high definition (HD) TV for.

For Bodyproject. as a communications pundit, there are numerous points to discuss following this match. First of all, how does commercial broadcasting stand up to licensed broadcasts from the BBC. Second, whilst HD is technically and visually superior, it does have a significant transmission problem and third, the woeful excuse from yet another major corporate entity, intent on ‘spinning’ rather than explaining honestly why it happened and what it is doing to prevent a reoccurrence.

The fact is commercial broadcast remains a pain. Watching any sport on channels such as Eurosport and Sky Sports is challenging. Try tennis when the same idents and woefully painful adverts are shown again and again between every set or between every round in say boxing. It is almost brain washing and, if anything,serves to put you off the product.

The World Cup of course is ‘big bucks’ advertising and the super brands are in town. But it doesn’t matter how clever Adidas is combining a classic film with cameos from Beckham, Noel Gallagher and Ian Brown; it is still an intrusion when played just before the teams walk out, just after the national anthems and for ITV, in error, as the key goal is scored. For me, there needs to be a balance, and at the moment it isn’t being struck, as most comment I am picking up is that people much prefer the BBC for its uninterrupted coverage – which is not great for the brands sinking all this money into promoting their product!

Equally ITV’s HD switch on has all been to coincide with this world showpiece event, so for them last night was as big a disaster as that of Robert Green’s faux-pas. Their explanation is woeful and to my communication colleagues at the broadcaster I say wake up and hold your hand like Green and apologise properly. You are not Toyota or BP shying away from reality – face up to it.

HD is suffering teething problems namely in that it cannot regionalise so I sometimes am sat in Liverpool having to watch London’s weather (yes we are still south east centric in the world of TV transmission). It also shares channel feeds and so watching Rafa Nadal playing at Queens is suddenly interrupted for fifteen minutes to allow BBC2 to join in, credits and punditry an all, leaving me frustrated at losing the match I was enjoying. At the moment it is all over the place.

I can say that at this time, I and the rest of England, cannot wait for the Algeria match. Mainly as it may still be at risk from transmission interruption but it will be certainly free of Hyundai interruption.